PREFACE

...if they had used gentleness. For if unrestrained reasoning and passion original: "ἀκρατὴς λογισμὸς καὶ θυμὸς" (akratēs logismos kai thymos) had not been so vehement within them, and if they could have tempered their style through that gentleness, I could have easily abstained from such an attack henceforth. I could have then deferred both a fuller treatment and a fairer examination of the entire case to its proper place. As has been shown, I previously demonstrated this out of a desire for peace—so far as is permitted while keeping truth and conscience safe—once their Protestation A formal public statement of dissent or defense issued by the Brethren. was received.

But now, this Response Referring to the secret document written by the Bohemian Brethren to counter the author’s previous criticisms. was printed a long time ago in the homeland of the Brothers—namely Bohemia or Moravia—and distributed secretly among their associates. Furthermore, it has recently been brought forward in more remote places, such as Poland, to suppress both me and our churches. Consequently, I could not do otherwise than to yield to that extreme necessity which has been announced and indeed urged upon me by the voices and letters of good men, by reason of my theological profession and my own conscience.

Moreover, to add this as well: it could certainly be that not all the Elders of that "Unity" The Unitas Fratrum, or Bohemian Brethren, a pre-Reformation Christian denomination. (as they call it) were initially aware of the publication of this Response. They seem to suggest as much shortly after the beginning of their Protestation, which was published three years after my earlier Antithesis or Examination Technical titles for the author's previous theological critiques.. But if this...